To Dye For
How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick--and How We Can Fight Back
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- CHF 11.00
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- CHF 11.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
A Silent Spring for your wardrobe, To Dye For is a jolting exposé that reveals the true cost of the toxic, largely unregulated chemicals found on most clothing today.
Many of us are aware of the ethical minefield that is fast fashion: the dodgy labor practices, the lax environmental standards, and the mountains of waste piling up on the shores of developing countries. But have you stopped to consider the dangerous effects your clothes are having on your own health? Award-winning journalist Alden Wicker breaks open a story hiding in plain sight: the unregulated toxic chemicals that are likely in your wardrobe right now, how they’re harming you, and what you can do about it.
In To Dye For, Wicker reveals how clothing manufacturers have successfully swept consumers’ concerns under the rug for more than 150 years, and why synthetic fashion and dyes made from fossil fuels are so deeply intertwined with the rise of autoimmune disease, infertility, asthma, eczema, and more. In fact, there’s little to no regulation of the clothes and textiles we wear each day—from uniforms to fast fashion, outdoor gear, and even the face masks that have become ubiquitous in recent years. Wicker explains how we got here, what the stakes are, and what all of us can do in the fight for a safe and healthy wardrobe for all.
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Journalist Wicker urges consumers to think twice before picking up a piece of fast fashion in her incisive debut. Following up on the idea that "fashion products have some of the most complicated and multilayered chemical profiles of any product you or I can buy—without a license, anyway," Wicker spotlights a host of people who've been affected by the fashion industry's unregulated toxic chemical use, among them flight attendants who wore uniforms that caused bloody skin lesions; an industrial hygienist later discovered the clothing contained Teflon and tributyl phosphate, which trigger skin and respiratory issues. Meanwhile, a fashion production manager describes grim factory visits in China, where she found workers living on-site and using toxic dyes without protection. Wicker enriches her study with fascinating background on how arsenic ended up in makeup and mercury in top hats before manufacturers switched to azo dyes, which are poorly understood and suspected to have carcinogenic effects. While the situation might seem dire, the author suggests consumers can protect themselves by buying used clothing and avoiding dry cleaners, which often use toxic cleaning agents. Wicker makes a robust, sobering case that "much of what historically made fashion dangerous to our health has been invisible," grounded by copious research and frequently shocking first-person accounts. This is a real eye-opener.
